*Mush! and two year olds*

[ippa]

Cannot get my 2 and a half yr old son to eat food without it being mush out of a jar. he is still on baby food (12mnth), does anyone have any ideas?

[Evesmama]

spaghetti hoops, ravioli, sausages and beans that type of thing with your own chips(chips spuds, par boil and brown in oven) so he can 'dip' them into the sauce surrounding them. might at least start him off on other foods????

[Bozza]

Will he not eat homemade mush eg stewed apples and custard, shepherds pie? Or could you start mixing jar food with homemade and gradually work towards less mushy? Ot is it a control thing and if you sneak something else into a jar beforehand would he realise?

TBH its news to me that they even do 12 month jars. Thought kids could eat regular food from 1yo.

[phatcat]

ippa - what does he do with finger foods - toast / fruit pieces etc.? Is he feeding himself the mush or are you spooning it into him? I remember we had to take it v. slowly progressing from mush to real food - have you tried finely dicing proper food, gradually letting the bits get bigger and bigger. What about 'soft' unmushed food like pasta bows with a simple sauce?

[NotQuiteCockney]

He won't eat anything that isn't mush, or just savoury foods? Does he eat crisps? Biscuits?

I'd probably move him onto lumps gently, and keep him away from anything tempting that wasn't proper food ...

[ippa]

Thanks for your ideas! The only finger food he will eat, surprisingly, is crisps, chocolate and marmite on toast. Though he will eat proper food at nursery. I cook him bolognese (pureed) with tiny pasta ABC's which at a push he will eat. He won't even eat mashed potatoe. Of, forgot, and chips from somewhere like McDonalds, though I do not want to serve that everyday! I have tried making food bits bigger but he justs pushes it away

[ippa]

Have also tried subsituting food in a jar but he knows!!

[OldieMum]

Is the problem mainly one about the texture of food, or the taste? If it's mainly that he doesn't like food in big 'bits', why not try mushing up what you are having for the meal, alternating with jars every other day at first? That may help with getting him used to the taste of adult food, without having to deal with the problem of big 'bits'. Then you could perhaps gradually make it less mushier. This is, basically, what we did with dd when we started her on our food.